The last U.S. military convoy leaving Iraq rolled through the desert just before dawn Sunday, carrying the last of our troops into Kuwait and ending what became a costly and controversial military occupation.

After the soldiers entered Kuwait the media covering the event reported hearing shouts of “Going home!” and “It’s over!” mingled with bear hugs and high-fives.

The final vehicle entered Kuwait eight years, eight months and 28 days after nearly 200,000 U.S. forces poured across the same border in 2003, most looking to a swift and certain victory.

The convoy’s departure, which included about 110 vehicles and 500 soldiers, came three days after the U.S. flag was lowered in a ceremony to celebrate the end of the mission.

The total number of casualties has been estimated at over 60,000. That number includes a coalition military death count of 4,802: 4,484 from the U.S., 179 from Great Britain, and 139 from other allied nations. Additional casualties include 1,487 contract employees and 348 journalists. Alabama’s numbers are 80 soldiers dead and over 550 wounded.

The number of Iraqis killed number well over 50,000, including 448 educators.

According to an Associated Press analysis of casualty data, the average age of Americans who died in Iraq was 26. Nearly 1,300 were 22 or younger, but middle-aged people fought and died as well: some 511 were older than 35.

The last U.S. casualty was Specialist David Emanuel Hickman, 23, of Greensboro, N.C. who was killed in Baghdad by a roadside bomb that ripped through his armored truck on Nov. 14

As this questionable war that claimed young Hickman as its last casualty comes to an unceremonial close, Sen. John Kerry’s 1971 congressional testimony on Vietnam gets an encore: “How do you ask a man to be the last to die for a mistake?”

“Thank God if David is the last one to die, because that means nobody else will have to go through this,” one of Hickman’s close friends told The Washington Post.

Just like the horrible political mistake in Vietnam by a Democratic president, Iraq was a horrible political mistake by a Republican president but with only a fraction of the monetary cost and human casualties.

In Vietnam 58,156 troops didn’t come home, 303,000 were wounded in action and the cost was well over $200 billion. We walked away there in a similar fashion that we’re leaving Iraq. By being critical of our entrance in these wars by political leaders, I do not demean in the least the courageous and dedicated service of our men and women in uniform. These misguided wars were totally the responsibility of our political leaders.

Both these conflicts came about by our generous willingness to help struggling nations our leaders thought we could help to become free and democratic. News Flash to those who may try this again: It’s no longer possible or sensible for us to walk into such quagmires alone, particularly if we are not invited. Two hundred billion wasted in Vietnam and another billion in Iraq (and still counting) and billions siphoned off annually by the big Wall Street banks is more than the working people of America can afford.

What’s left for Iraq? The United States will continue to play a necessary role there. The largest American embassy in the world is located in Bagdad, and in the wake of the military departure it is doubling in size — from about 8,000 people to 16,000 people, most of them contractors. There will be fewer than 200 military personnel, to guard the embassy and oversee the sale of weapons to the Iraqi government.

We have taken one giant step toward looking inward to pay for improvements to our crumbling infrastructure at home. Now the President must take the second step and get us out of Afghanistan and turn that battle back over to the Russians. Even they were smart enough to get out after 10 years. The Afghan leaders pretend to want our help, take our money and live lavish lives.

While the United States struggles with debt and deficits, we will spend more than $118 billion this year in Afghanistan for military operations, base security, reconstruction and foreign aid. We can’t afford to stay there until 2014 Mr. President.

Bob Martin is editor and publisher of The Montgomery Independent. Email him at: bob@montgomeryindependent.com.